


four seven eight

by mynameisbirdie



Category: Runaways (TV 2017)
Genre: Canon Compliant, F/M, Hurt/Comfort, Missing Scene
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-14
Updated: 2018-01-14
Packaged: 2019-03-04 22:41:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,436
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13374591
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mynameisbirdie/pseuds/mynameisbirdie
Summary: "Everyone else in the van is asleep. Or at least, Gert can reasonably conclude that they are."Or, how Gert and Chase ended up holding hands while they slept in episode 1x10.





	four seven eight

Everyone else in the van is asleep. Or at least, Gert can reasonably conclude that they are.

She can hear Molly’s soft snores next to her and makes a mental note to invest in some of those nose strips that help with snoring. If they can afford them, that is. But she thinks it might be worth it if they’re going to be living in close quarters for the time being.

Nico and Karolina are curled up together on the other side of Chase and if their slow, deep breaths are any indication, they’re probably fast asleep by now. Chase, who’s lying right next to her, is faced away from her towards Nico and Karolina. Gert, however, is lying flat on her back, staring at the ceiling of the van and pointedly trying not to think about how close they are in proximity, both of their heads resting on the trash bag holding their clothes from the night before.

Truthfully, Gert is trying not to _think at all_ right now, but it doesn’t seem to be working. _God_ , she wished she had kept her anxiety meds with her. After the previous night they’d had, combined with this being the first time in a while she’s been without her medication, she’s having a hard time staying calm at any given point during the day. And to be fair to herself, she has plenty of reasons not to be calm right now, what with all of their parents trying to destroy the world and being on the run from said parents with her adopted sister and four other teenagers who were barely a part of her life anymore before few of weeks ago. Not to mention the fact that these teenagers – her friends, her _family_ now – practically forced her to give up the one thing she had to protect herself.

She squeezes her eyes shut at the thought of Old Lace, willing herself not to start crying in the back of a Gibborim church van when four other people are crowded around her. She’s already anxious enough, she doesn’t need to worry about one of them waking up and possibly hearing her or asking her what’s wrong, because they’re all on edge (though no one more than she is she’s sure), and they all made her _leave_ her _goddamn dinosaur_ , for _Christ’s sake_ , and –

Gert stops her train of thought when she hears movement to her left. She hopes to a god she doesn’t believe in that it’s Karolina or Nico, but when she feels the trash bag shift beneath her head she keeps her eyes closed. _Of course_ he’s awake, because when has she ever been so lucky?

_You got pretty lucky last night_ , her overactive brain supplies, which, okay, she so _does not_ want to be thinking about _that_ right now. Especially since she screwed it up already somehow, and what was she thinking, asking him to define the relationship in the middle of what basically turned out to be a battlefield, and why had she dismissed it so soon? She had been so sure it meant nothing, they’re teenagers, they have crazy hormones, but then Nico said he liked her? And if that’s really the case, then she totally sabotaged herself on something she’s wanted for way longer than she’d ever admit, but then _why_ would he like _her_? He could have any girl he wanted, despite their present predicament, so what did he care about one hormonal hook-up at a stupid high school dance, and _god_ why can’t her brain just shut up and let her sleep?

“Gert?”

She freezes at the sound of Chase’s voice, just barely a whisper in the confines of the van. “Go to sleep, Chase,” she tries to say, but her voice cracks when she says his name. _Goddammit._ She hears (but doesn’t see, because she refuses to look anywhere but the ceiling of this van right now) him turn over and land on his back. She can feel his breath on her cheek, just barely there, but he’s clearly looking at her. Gert keeps her eyes on the ceiling.

“Are you okay?”

She lets out a humorless chuckle, trying her best to keep her voice down. “I-I’m fine, jock strap. Go to sleep.” She keeps her answers short, hoping it will discourage him from saying anything else.

It doesn’t.

“Gert, I know what you sound like when you’re about to have a panic attack. Your breathing has gotten really fast,” he says, concern evident in his voice.

Has it? She hadn’t noticed over the sound of her own thinking, but yeah, that would make sense as to why her chest feels tight and she can’t seem to _calm down_. She doesn’t say anything in response to his observation, hoping maybe he’ll just leave it alone. But this is _Chase_ , so of course he can’t, and before she even knows what’s going on, he’s grabbing her right hand from underneath his coat (how did that end up on top of her again??) and resting them both on his stomach.

“W-what are you –” the shake in her own voice cuts her off mid-sentence, and Chase gives her hand a squeeze. She still refuses to look at him, laying stock still on her back.

“Just match my breathing, okay?” It’s then that she notices that his breathing is slow, purposefully slow, and he keeps holding it for a number of seconds before exhaling. She feels her hand rise with his on his stomach, and then pause, and then hears his exhale through his mouth. It takes her a few moments, but she recognizes the pattern. Four, seven, eight. Inhale for four seconds, hold for seven, exhale for eight. By three or four more rounds she starts to feel her breathing even out and the tightness in her chest loosen.

Once she’s breathing normally again, he gives her hand another squeeze. “Better?”

She nods against the bag. “Yeah. Much.” He still has hold of her hand, and she makes no move to take it back. This is…nice. Much slower than their previous encounter at the dance, but still just as emotionally charged, still just enough contact to make her heart stutter in her chest. They both lay there in silence for a while, before something occurs to her. “Chase, how did you know…” she trails off, hoping he’ll understand where she’s going with this.

“Oh, um, the breathing thing?”

“Yeah.”

“Um…I learned it a few years ago. For, you know, those days when my dad was in a particularly…violent mood.” He hesitates before the word ‘violent,’ and something in Gert flares with anger at Victor Stein for ever letting this boy feel like he was less than. She can’t help but squeeze his hand, harder than he’s squeezed hers, and turns her head to look at him.

“ _Chase_ …”

“We should get some rest,” he says, now looking up at the ceiling as she had been doing throughout this whole exchange. He isn’t looking at her and she can’t blame him. She knows that his relationship with his dad has become even more complicated in the past couple of weeks and he clearly doesn’t want to talk about it. Now probably isn’t the time to discuss it anyway – there’s a good chance they’re going to wake someone else up if they keep talking.

She’s still looking at him when she says, “yeah, okay.” His grip loosens on her hand, and for a second she thinks about moving it back under the coat, but instead she removes it from his for just a moment to adjust her position, moving her body so that she’s lying on her side, facing him. He hasn’t moved his hand from his stomach, so she slips hers back into his and leaves it there. She feels rather than hears the soft laugh he lets out at putting her hand in his and it makes her smile into the darkness. She likes to think he’s probably smiling, too.

“Goodnight, Gert,” he says, and yeah, now she can _hear_ the smile in his voice.

“Yeah. Goodnight…” she closes her eyes for a moment before opening them again to look towards his face. “Chase?”

“Yeah?”

“Thank you.” _For seeing me. For_ always _seeing me_. It goes unsaid, but she thinks he knows what she means when he lets out a sharp gasp.

“Yeah. Anytime.” She closes her eyes again as sleep slowly begins to wash over her, but she swears that before she falls asleep, she feels his breath on her cheek again and hears his whispered reply.

“Always.”

**Author's Note:**

> Wow, I haven't finished a fic in six years. Who knew these two would capture my heart so suddenly that I would be writing fanfiction about them. This scene came to me the day after the last episode aired and wouldn't leave me alone, so here we are.
> 
> Special thanks to quirkthescribbler and AubinaSnapple for being my wonderful betas. 
> 
> Come find me on [tumblr](http://mynameisbirdie.tumblr.com/) where I'll probably be blogging about this show for a while. Thanks for reading!


End file.
